Saint Petersburg. St. Petersburg. Pop. 4,568,000. Currency - Rouble. Language – Russian. Time Zone GMT + 3 hours. Main Airport – Pulkovo LED. Best Time to go – spring and also June, during the famous White Nights when sun sets only briefly. Saint Petersburg or simply St. Petersburg is the 2nd largest city in Russia and was formerly called Petrograd and later Leningrad. The city is located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea and is often described as the most western of Russian cities. The major attraction in the city is without doubt The Hermitage, the largest art museum in the world. The museum has a collection of over 3,000,000 pieces including priceless works by Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michealangelo, and Reubens. It was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. The principal collections include: Egyptian antiquities, Classical antiquities, Prehistoric art, Jewellery and decorative art, Italian Renaissance, Italian and Spanish fine art, Knight's Hall, Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque, German and French fine art, Russian art, and Neoclassical, Impressionist, and post-Impressionist art. Aside from the Hermitage the city has many more attractions including: Winter Palace, Russian Museum, Peter and Paul Fortress, Alexander Nevskiy Monastery, Our-Lady-of-Kazan Cathedral, Naval Institute, and Zoological Museum. A younger member of the TLD team was lucky enough to visit Lenningrad as the city was known then. Highlights of that visit included: hot cloudless skies, Battleship Aurora, and the stunning Petrodvorets (Summer Palace). Some visitors may be concerned about the dangerous reputation of St. Petersburg. This may have been true just after the demise of the Soviet Union as the city is now a lot safer. However, we would advise visitors to look after valuables due to pick-pocketing, and to stay within the more central areas of the city.

The Grand Hotel Europe is a historical, cultural, and culinary landmark, playing an important role in the life of St. Petersburg for over 130 years. The hotel’s famous patrons include Tchaikovsky (who spent his honeymoon), George Bernard Shaw (who dined with Maxim Gorky), Dostoevsky, and Strauss. The hotel is positioned on Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg’s main thoroughfare and home to many famous sights.

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the delta of the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. It was formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and Leningrad (1924–1991). With about 4.8 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest and one of largest cities in Europe, a major European cultural center, and the most important Russian port on the Baltic.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia showcases masterpieces of art and Russian history. Take a virtual tour of the former royal residences and search the high-resolution online digital collection at the official web site.

Tour to St.Petersburg, Russia - personal guiding service. Come and visit St. Petersburg and our professional team will arrange everything in the best way and make your stay in our city unforgettable and full of positive impressions.

Founded by Peter the Great, the former home of the Czars and the center of Russian culture, Saint Petersburg was known as "The Venice of the North" in its heyday. The Hermitage Museum/The Winter Palace is Saint Petersburg's prime attraction, a massive palace-cum-museum showing the highlights of a collection of over 3,000,000 pieces spanning the globe.

Search our Sites

Travel Quote: "Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." Mary Ritter Beard